What is Fluoride?

What is Fluoride?Fluoride is a natural mineral found throughout the earth's crust and widely distributed in nature. Some foods and water supplies contain fluoride.

Fluoride is often added to drinking water to help reduce tooth decay. In the 1930s, researchers found that people who grew up drinking naturally fluoridated water had up to two-thirds fewer cavities than people living in areas without fluoridated water. Studies since then have repeatedly shown that when fluoride is added to a community's water supply, tooth decay decreases. The American Dental Association, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association, among many other organizations, have endorsed the use of fluoride in water supplies because of its effect on tooth decay.

How Does Fluoride Work?Fluoride helps prevent cavities in two different ways:

Fluoride concentrates in the growing bones and developing teeth of children, helping to harden the enamel on baby and adult teeth before they emerge

Fluoride helps to harden the enamel on adult teeth that have already emerged

Fluoride works during the demineralization and remineralization processes that naturally occur in your mouth.

After you eat, your saliva contains acids that cause demineralization a dissolving of the calcium and phosphorous under the tooth's surface

At other times when your saliva is less acidic it does just the opposite, replenishing the calcium and phosphorous that keep your teeth hard. This process is caused remineralization. When fluoride is present during remineralization, the minerals deposited are harder than they would otherwise be, helping to strengthen your teeth and prevent dissolution during the next demineralization phase

How do I Know if I'm Getting Enough Fluoride?If your drinking water is fluoridated, then brushing regularly with a fluoride toothpaste is considered sufficient for adults and children with healthy teeth at low risk of decay.

If your community's water is not fluoridated and does not have enough natural fluoride in it (1 part per million is considered optimal), then your dentist or pediatrician may prescribe fluoride tablets or drops for your children to take daily. Your dentist or pediatrician can tell you how much fluoride is right for your family, so be sure to ask for his or her advice.

If your water comes from a public water supply, you can find out if it's fluoridated by calling your local water district. If your water comes from a private well, you can have it analyzed by an independent environmental testing company that provides water-testing services.

FLUORIDE

Overview

Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in all water sources, including the oceans. Research has shown that fluoride not only reduces cavities in children and adults, but it also helps repair the early stages of tooth decay, even before the decay is visible. Fluoride is the best cavity fighter to help keep the whole family's teeth strong*

How Does FLUORIDE Strengthen Your Teeth?

When it reaches your teeth, fluoride is absorbed into the enamel. It helps to repair the enamel by replenishing the lost calcium and phosphorous to keep your teeth hard. This process is caused remineralization. When fluoride is present during remineralization, the minerals deposited into the tooth enamel help strengthen your teeth and prevent dissolution during the next demineralization phase. Thus, fluoride helps stop the decay process and prevent tooth decay.

*Fluoride should only be used by children ages 2 and up, or as directed by a dentist

How to Use FLUORIDE

You can get the benefits of fluoride from different places. It can work from an external source and from the inside of your body. To work the best, you need to get it from both. At home, you and your family should brush with fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day for two minutes, especially after eating breakfast and before bedtime.